Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 18.djvu/209

 Fargus in a lace manufactory in Devonshire, which, however, he gave up in 1823, and in 1825 took the engineering direction of Messrs. Marshall's flax-mills at Leeds; this position he was obliged to relinquish in 1826 in consequence of the failure of his brother's health and the necessity for his return to London, where he resumed his profession of consulting engineer, and from that time was engaged in most of the novel inventions, important trials in litigated patent cases, and scientific investigations of the period. Farey joined the Institution of Civil Engineers as a member in 1826, served several offices in the council, and always took great interest in its welfare. His residence, 67 Great Guilford Street, Russell Square, London, was burnt down in 1850, when considerable portions of his library and documents were injured or destroyed.

His health, which had been failing since the death of his wife, now received an additional shock, and he died of disease of the heart at the Common, Sevenoaks, Kent, on 17 July 1851.

He was the author of' A Treatise on the Steam Engine, Historical, Practical, and Descriptive,' 1827, vol. i., the only part printed. He also contributed two papers on the' Force of Steam' to the ' Transactions of the Institution of Civil Engineers' (1836), i. 85-94, 111-16.

[Minutes of Proceedings of Institution of Civil Engineers (1862), xi. 100-2.]  FARGUS, FREDERICK JOHN (1847–1885), novelist under the pseudonym of, born at Bristol on 26 Dec. 1847, was the eldest of three brothers who were the children of Frederick Charles Fargus, a local auctioneer. Their mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Marson, died during their boyhood. Frederick was a quiet, contemplative child. His boyish passion for reading novels made him long to be a sailor. His father, who had meant that he should join him in business, reluctantly assented to his wish to be entered, when thirteen years old, as a student on board the school frigate Conway, then stationed on the Mersey. He was quickly advanced from the first to the second class, and in June 1862 won prizes for general proficiency, mathematics, and astronomy. Fargus then wanted to enter the royal navy, but to this his father was opposed, the boy finally resolving to abandon the maritime profession. Placed for a time at a private school in Bristol, he wrote, at the age of seventeen, a burlesque in three acts upon ‘Jason, or the Golden Fleece,’ and sent it to William Robertson, father of the dramatist, then engaged at the Bristol Theatre. Robertson commissioned Fargus to write a duologue for his daughter Margaret (now Mrs. Kendal) and Mr. Fosbrooke, the comedian; but the company leaving Bristol the order was cancelled.

On quitting school Fargus was articled to Messrs. Williams & Co., a firm of public accountants, in whose office he remained until his father's death, on 14 April 1868, when he succeeded to his father's business. He had written songs while a clerk, many of which were set to music by different composers. The words were given as ‘by Hugh Conway,’ a name taken in memory of his old school frigate on the Mersey. They were collected in 1879 as ‘A Life's Idylls and other Poems.’ In the winter of 1881 Fargus contributed to a collection of tales entitled ‘Thirteen at Table’ his first story, called ‘The Daughter of the Stars.’ The ‘Miscellany’ was the earliest of the Christmas annuals published at Bristol by Mr. Arrowsmith. Fargus contributed to ‘Blackwood's Magazine’ of December 1881 his tale of ‘The Secret of the Stradivarius;’ in April 1882 ‘The Bandsman's Story;’ and in April 1883 ‘Fleurette.’ In the last-named year he published his romance ‘Called Back,’ the sale of which was steady from the first. By 16 March 1884 thirty thousand copies, and by 27 June 1887 352,000 had been sold. Immediately upon its appearance it was translated into French, German, Italian, Swedish, Spanish, and Dutch. It was dramatised by its author, in collaboration with Mr. Comyns Carr, and produced at the Prince's (now Prince of Wales's) Theatre in London on 20 May 1884, where it ran with great success for nearly two hundred nights. A banquet in honour of the author was given on 12 June 1884 by the mayor of Bristol. The original agreement as to ‘Called Back’ was 150l. for an edition of ten thousand, with a small royalty afterwards. This was cancelled by mutual consent on the astonishing success of the book. In December 1883 Fargus published ‘My First Client’ in the ‘Bristol Times and Mirror,’ and ‘Miss Rivers' Revenge’ in ‘Chambers's Edinburgh Journal.’ During the same year he produced a serial fiction called the ‘Red Hill Mystery’ in the ‘Yorkshire Post.’ Rechristened ‘A Cardinal Sin,’ it was afterwards reissued as a three-volume novel. In April 1884 he wrote ‘Paul Vargas’ in the ‘English Illustrated Magazine,’ and in May ‘Chewton Abbot’ in ‘Chambers's Edinburgh Journal.’ In November 1884 he published ‘Dark Days,’ which was at once translated into Welsh, as well as into French and German, and dramatised. In 1884 a dozen of his minor tales were collected in 2 vols., under the title of ‘Bound Together.’ ‘The